‘Michael Horton, barrister at Coram Chambers explains the jurisdiction of the family court in relation to enforcement proceedings and highlights considerations which impact on the drafting of recitals to consent orders.’
Family Law Week, 4th July 2018
Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk
‘A conditional fee agreement (CFA) that named the wrong defendant was still valid when read in the wider context of the claim, the Court of Appeal has ruled.’
Litigation Futures, 20th June 2018
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘On 30 November 2017 I issued ‘Practice Guidance: Standard financial and enforcement orders’ [2018] Fam Law 89 [1]. These orders, which are available in both hard and soft formats, as well as being generatable by commercial software, have been very well received. Indeed, I have learned that they are being considered for adoption, in suitably modified form, in Hong Kong. I have no doubt that those orders are achieving the objective I identified, namely to promote national consistency, and to avoid for the future, so far as possible, ambiguities in the meaning of the wording of an order.’
Family Law, 7th June 2018
Source: www.familylaw.co.uk
‘Companies and lawyers must be clear and unambiguous when drafting settlement agreements, a court ruling has reminded them. A liquidator had to drop some claims after a court used correspondence to clarify exactly what was meant by the phrase “whole of the claim” in a compromise agreement. The ruling does not affect the liquidator’s claim against another person because she was not mentioned in the correspondence.’
OUT-LAW.com, 5th June 2018
Source: www.out-law.com
‘A police force has admitted it has wrongly fined ‘speeding’ motorists after a clerical error meant the speed limit was never officially lowered. Avon and Somerset Police face having to cancel hundreds of tickets after a motorist successfully overturned his fine.’
Daily Telegraph, 9th April 2018
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘It is not the court’s role to redraft pleadings in the hope of producing an “intelligible defence”, the High Court has said.’
Litigation Futures, 29th March 2018
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘In his latest blog on the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill, Paul Craig criticises the recommendation of the House of Lords Constitution Committee (“HLCC”), at paras 70 and 93, that all retained direct EU law (defined by the HLCC to encompass all the law continued under clauses 3 and 4 of the Withdrawal Bill) should be given the status of domestic primary legislation passed immediately before exit day. He suggests, instead, a hierarchy in which some law continued in force under clause 3 should be “deemed to be a statutory instrument”. This formulation is intended, it seems, to do more than its usual job (which is confined to attracting the provisions of the Statutory Instruments 1946, which are largely irrelevant for present purposes). It appears to be intended, instead, to give the law in question the status of subordinate legislation made under legislative powers delegated to the executive. But what practical effects is it designed to produce?’
Constitutional Law Association, 28th February 2018
Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org
‘It is often the case that, when parties negotiate the parties’ rights to terminate a contract on particular terms, one party will often wish to have an opportunity to rectify any potential termination default that they have committed, whereas the other will wish to retain the discretion to determine when a contract will come to an end in the event of a termination event. The issue in the case was essentially about contractual interpretation, and a conflict within a termination clause which meant either the main contractor was entitled to serve a termination notice immediately on its subcontractor, or that there was a requirement that the main contractor provide an opportunity to the subcontractor to remedy the default before serving a termination notice.’
Hardwicke Chambers, 16th November 2017
Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk
‘There could be a “technical flaw” in the way Article 50 was triggered which could make it vulnerable to a challenge in court, the National Assembly for Wales has been told.’
The Independent, 5th July 2017
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘A High Court judge has described as “absurd” the conduct of parties in an employment dispute that produced thousands of pages in bundles – but only referred to 100 of them – and skeleton arguments more than seven times the expected length.’
Litigation Futures, 14th June 2017
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘In the White Paper published in February this year (“The United Kingdom’s exit from and new partnership with the European Union” Cm 9417), the very first point made was that the “Great Repeal Bill” will “remove the European Communities Act 1972 from the statute book and convert the ‘acquis’ – the body of existing EU law – into domestic law”. It was said that “[t]his means that, wherever practical and appropriate, the same rules and laws will apply on the day after [the United Kingdom] leave[s] the EU as they did before”.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 12th April 2017
Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org
‘A law firm that made a mistake when drafting a loan letter on its client’s instructions, and failing to draw critical information to his attention, was not liable to that client when the loan failed. The client would have made a loss on the loan in any event due to his commercial misjudgments, the UK’s highest court has ruled.
OUT-LAW.com, 29th March 2017
Source: www.out-law.com
‘The government would certainly prefer a “great” repeal, but they would be wise to make it an ordinary one. Four years ago I published an analysis piece in Public Law (April 2013) about the need to prevent political language in legislation, and especially in relation to statutory titles. In short, I could find little guidance in a host of official Parliamentary and drafting documents that would curtail overtly political statutory language, and especially in the presentational aspects of bills and statutes, such as short titles. When it came down to it, if a minister desired a particular title for their Bill, they could strong-arm drafters into getting their way—although, there could be pushback from House Authorities, such as the Speaker. The most recent version of Erskine May (2011) notes that short titles must “describe the bill in a straightforwardly factual manner. An argumentative title or slogan is not permitted” (p 526). In reality, however, ministers “may for presentational reasons have strong views about the short title and the structure of the bill”, and attempt to assert their authority (Cabinet Office Guide to Making Legislation, 9.71). Indeed, it is this unique convergence of law and policy that makes the process of drafting so interesting.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 28th March 2017
Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org
‘The Supreme Court has upheld a ruling that a law firm which had been negligent in drawing up a loan facility agreement was not legally responsible for their client’s decision to actually make the loan.’
Legal Futures, 23rd March 2017
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘Andrew Burns QC & Ishaani Shrivastava examine the implication & construction of contract terms following Marks & Spencer.’
New Law Journal, 25th November 2016
Source: www.newlawjournal.co.uk
‘The technology behind an artificial intelligence (AI) app developed to help businesspeople draft confidentiality agreements will be extended to other commercial and consumer products such as wills, and may in time be suitable for family law cases, according to its creator.’
Legal Futures, 22nd November 2016
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘Campaigners and politicians have criticised Home Secretary Theresa May’s assertion that Britain should leave the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).’
The Independent, 25th April 2016
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘On 1 October 2015 the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (“CRA”) came into force. CRA superseded the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 (“UTCCR”). The CRA aims to modernise, simplify and consolidate key parts of consumer law; it is the cornerstone of an extensive consumer law reform programme. Anyone acting in a landlord and tenant dispute or drafting tenancy or lease agreement needs to be familiar with its provisions’
Hardwicke Chambers, 11th March 2016
Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk
‘It is reassuring to know that someone, somewhere, has taken the time and effort to apply precision and ingenuity of parliamentary draftsmanship in order to define, at least for the purposes of the FWMA 2010 if no other, what is meant by a flood (and what is not).’
Falcon Chambers, 26th January 2016
Source: www.falcon-chambers.com
‘Both customers and suppliers can learn lessons on outsourcing from a recent dispute ruled on by the High Court in London.’
OUT-LAW.com, 7th January 2016
Source: www.out-law.com
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